


Mothertale

by ChaoticNeutral



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Adult Frisk, Alternate Universe - Gaster Blaster (Undertale), Badass Frisk, Chara Being Chara, Everyone Needs A Hug, Except Gaster, Gen, Mama Frisk, Narrator Chara, Reader Is Frisk, W. D. Gaster Being An Asshole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-22 21:01:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11974941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaoticNeutral/pseuds/ChaoticNeutral
Summary: Frisk is not a dog person. Or a kid person. But little recently escaped Sans and Papyrus decide that Frisk is their person. And it’s hard to argue the matter with two clingy skele-kiddies and a voice in your head teaming up against you.





	Mothertale

**Author's Note:**

> The Underground: Where the citizens are monsters, puppies are children, and you are a mother—whether you want to be or not.

* * *

 

In retrospect, maybe you should have stayed with Toriel.

 

Beyond the door out of the Ruins, you are greeted with fields of white and an inexplicable chill in the air. You’re kind of surprised at the sudden temperature change and how a stone door was adequately able to separate the warmth behind you from the near-freezing winter weather ahead without giving any indication of the soon to be drop in temperature on the other side. Given what you’ve experienced so far, you decided to chalk it up to the weird workings of magic. You’d already seen talking vegetables and fire that doesn’t actually burn anyone, so questionable insulation and how the hell it snowed in an area that technically doesn’t have precipitation really weren’t high up there on your list of “weirdness”.

 

Because yeah, monsters were real. All those tales you’d been told growing up? All true. Well, mostly, since the monsters you’ve met so far haven’t seemed all that inclined to eat you. Though that’s not to say they didn’t want to hurt you, as a good many of them were interested in the whole ‘murder you and steal your soul’ aspect of things, which the legends neglected to mention.

 

But no worries! You could handle this. It was only a dark cavern filled with traps and monsters.

 

Oh, and the dogs.

 

Have you forgotten to mention yet that you didn't like dogs? Because you really didn't like dogs. It was difficult to put into words just how much you didn't like dogs. They were noisy and messy and would chew and slobber over everything. Then there were the big ones that used to chase you when you were little which you were in no way still traumatized over even years later regardless of what your therapist said.

 

You just didn’t like dogs. There was nothing wrong with that, right?

 

Right. There’s probably nothing wrong with hearing voices in your head, either. Though you have been trying very hard to ignore that particular issue.

 

So naturally with your luck of falling into an underground monster society filled with all sorts of creatures that wanted to kill you and harvest your soul (and how much the world seems to hate you in general), it of course only stood to reason that some of the said soul-harvesting monsters would be dogs. And that the ones who were dogs were also members of the Royal Guard and thus rather powerful and particularly difficult to get past.

 

Because life just works out that way. And it hates you. Or thought it would be funny. Or all of the above. Probably all of the above.

 

So somehow you managed to handle your encounters with the dog monsters without screaming like a little girl, bursting into tears, or committing murder—regardless of how justified you felt you’d be doing the last option. But that would make Toriel upset, and the goat woman had been rather kind to you with her only request being that you didn’t hurt anyone. Not to mention that trying to hurt any of the creatures you met felt a lot like kicking a puppy. A sad little puppy staring up at you with watery eyes. And though you really, REALLY didn’t like dogs, even you couldn’t deny that puppies were adorable as all get out and you damn well shouldn’t be kicking them regardless of how much you may not like them.

 

Now fortunately (considering the circumstances), after encountering multiple dog or doglike creatures and being forced to interact with them on a more close and personal level than you ever wanted to for an extended period of time, it seems you had gotten well past the “panic” stage of fear over your situation to the “numb” stage that comes with cutting yourself off from your emotions until you can find a safe quiet place to curl up into a sobbing ball of trauma. Or it could actually be that you’re coping with your issues like an emotionally healthy person—that is if you were actually an emotionally healthy person. But generally, emotionally healthy people don’t go trekking up mountains where people are known to disappear.

 

Not without good reason, at least…

 

Regardless, you were no longer in that panic mode and thus seemed to have an easier time dealing with each dog-like creature you came across. There was the blind one, the long necked one, the playful one, and the nose nuzzling couple just to name a few. And sure, you had some fun with them—all while thanking every higher power you could recall that you had held onto that stick you had started out with. And that you had lost your grip on said stick and accidentally flung it in your first bout of panic instead of whacking anyone with it (which was your initial instinct to do), which resulted in a happy armored dog who had mistaken your frightened reaction as initiating a game of fetch. Which ultimately led to said armored dog letting you by without continuing to try to kill you and gave you the idea to attempt the same trick with any other dogs you might encounter.

 

And it worked. Doggo struggled to find the stick after it landed, but seemed used to this difficulty and was able to find the stick after the third try—though you weren’t sure what you were supposed to do with a doggie treat and a bone that he brought the previous two times. Dogamy and Dogaressa came back holding the stick in-between them, which was rather romantic and you wished the two a happy life together. And the long-necked one liked petting more than fetch, so you’d managed to make steps in the whole “exposure therapy” from being in proximity to dogs to actually touching one, so some progress was made at least. And you were finally starting to think that maybe dogs weren’t so bad.

 

By this point, after coming across so many various types of dogs, it only stood to reason (in your mind at least) that all the dogs here in this magical but still rather dangerous world were strange but otherwise harmless.

 

Even the tiny skeleton dogs you suddenly happened across.

 

“That’s…different.”

 

Well, you’d met blind dogs, love-dogs, dogs in armor, and dogs with necks that stretched far beyond what you believed any dog should be capable of. So it only stood to reason that there would be skeleton dogs as well.

 

Or puppies, given how tiny they were.

 

“Uh…hi there?” You greeted.

 

One of the two growled at you while the other seemed to flinch and almost cower back from you. Both of them had glowing lights in their eyes that seemed to almost flash at you and somehow gave you a feeling of unease, like the hairs on the back of your neck were standing at attention and something heavy was had decided to take up residence on your shoulders. This was rather unusual, and quite a bit different from the response you’d gotten from the other dogs previously. The ones before had been rather friendly, and overly so. These ones seemed more nervous and afraid than anything. And they were so little. Maybe they really were puppies and were just scared?

 

Admittedly, you knew very little about dogs—skeletal or otherwise—and thus didn’t recognize the signs when a dog was aggressive and better left alone, usually because you tried avoiding all of them regardless. But the monster dogs of this strange Underground were rather friendly with some affection even if they did start off any encounter pointing something sharp in your general direction.

 

These guys had no such sharp and pointy weaponry that you could see, and if anything seemed more focused on the pointy if not very sharp stick you still had in hand if the low growling was and intent staring at the object were any indication.

 

“You want the stick?” You asked, waving it lightly in a playful manner, leading to an increase in growling from the already clearly unhappy one.

 

But with your aforementioned lack of knowledge of doggie expressions, you failed to realize that this growling indicated that they must have seen you as a threat with weapon in hand.

 

**[ ACT ]**

 

[ Pet ]           [ Hug ]

**[ Fetch ]**       [ Command ]

 

“Go fetch!”

 

Which was probably why the growls cut off with a confused yip when you threw your only weapon a good 20 feet away, leaving you with no means of defending yourself and two puppies staring at you in what could only be complete confusion.

 

“Go on!” You encouraged. “Go get the stick!”

 

They both continued to stare at you, but after some hesitation, the second of the two took a few uncertain steps in the direction of the fallen branch before glancing back at you.

 

“You can do it!” You reassured him with a smile, oblivious to the increased glare of the first. “Go get it!”

 

Seeming a bit emboldened, the puppy made its way to the stick and grabbed it in its maw before glancing back at you as if for further instructions.

 

“Now bring it back. Come here, boy!” You called, patting your thighs and grinning. You knew at least some aspects of interacting with dogs, at least—from television if nothing else. Plus the other dog-like monsters you’d met so far had responded pretty well to fetching and these little guys were…at least sort of dog-like.

 

Still somewhat uncertain but braver now, the puppy brought the stick back to you. At least somewhat aware of how tense both dogs were—if only by the warning growls from the other puppy who hadn’t moved since it saw you once the first came within range of you, you slowly lowered yourself to your knees to be on more even level with the fetching puppy.

 

“Is that for me? Did you bring me a gift?” You cooed and reached out cautiously for the stick, which the puppy released into your grip with little fuss. “Good boy!”

 

The puppy jerked up at that, its eyes widening through you didn’t know with what. Before it could respond, however, you already had your hand on its head and started petting the little guy in a soothing motion.

 

“You’re a good boy, aren’t you? Yes you are! You’re a very good boy!”

 

Its tail was wagging in a way that could only signify happiness. You weren’t certain at first, but it almost seemed to be grinning and actually bouncing a little in place. Regardless, it was rather cute, and you cooed softly at the little thing as you continued to pet it. The puppy, for its part, seemed to relish in the attention and lost any hesitancy in getting even closer to you to get better range for more petting.

 

The other puppy, however, did not seem to like this, as evidenced from its stiffened posture, raised tail, and increased growling.

 

Noticing the return of unhappy sounding puppy noises, you looked up from the petting to see the other puppy glowering at you.

 

“Aww, do you want some affection, too?”

 

And completely misunderstood why.

 

**[ ACT ]**

 

**[ Pet ]  **         [ Hug ]

[ Fetch ]       [ Command ]

 

Without thinking, you reached out a hand to give it an affectionate pat as well. As opposed to its partner, this puppy attempted to dodge away from your hand and you probably should have left it at that, but you were nothing if not determined and in your determination for giving pets, it appeared that you overreached when the puppy dodged and you ended up stroking the top back of its head.

 

It immediately dropped.

 

You practically panicked at the sight of it slumping to the ground and were caught between wanting to try to fix whatever you did and fearing you would only make it worse. After a few harried moments, you were fairly certain that you at least hadn’t accidentally killed it due to the soft rumbling sound it was making. But it wasn’t really growling this time. Instead it sounded like…

 

“Are…are you purring?”

 

It only purred louder in response.

 

“Ohmygod that is so cute.”

 

The purring ended, cut off with a whine. This was also shortly followed with another whine from the first puppy as both seemed to want your attention.

 

You found yourself strangely pleased with these results, and all too happy to indulge in their desires for affection.

 

See? Your therapist was wrong! Dog-based trauma, your foot! So much for a dog phobia. Even if they are skeletal dogs. And these two little guys weren’t so bad for dogs anyway. They had no fur so they didn’t shed. And since they had no tongues (that you could see at any rate), you didn’t have to worry about slobber. Sure the whole being only made of bones bit was kind of weird but they were surprisingly cuddly. And when their eyes weren't flashing, they seemed to give off more a feeling of calm than anything, even if you were still wondering how their eyes could have lights inside and glow like that.

 

They were actually…kind of cute. Creepy as hell with them being comprised entirely of bones and nothing else, sure, but cute.

 

Though those teeth were certainly pointy-looking and something to be wary of…

 

No, bad thoughts. No revisiting trauma right now.

 

So after talking yourself out of another panic attack, you spent some time petting the nice bone-puppies who were not showing off their not very nice teeth and who did not seem all that inclined to do much more than sleep on you or keep fetching the stick. Thus they were entertained with sleeping and/or fetching, while you were entertained with watching them and trying to work out how their bones were staying together so solidly. And being slept on and/or fetched to. Which was still ultimately better than having anything sharp and pointy being aimed as you like your previous encounters.

 

It was actually kind of fun. You found you were enjoying yourself, surprisingly enough. The two skeleton-puppies certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves as well, with one napping and the other playing and both enjoying the petting. Your arms started to get tired after a while, though. Then there was another matter of growls starting up that were coming from your own stomach this time.

 

This actually seemed to surprise the two little guys, as the playful one stopped and cocked its head at you in confusion while the napping one jerked awake and backed away from you in wariness.

 

You simpered, rubbing the back of your head as you realized what had happened. “Oh, I guess I missed lunch, huh?”

 

Your stomach growled at you in response, clearly displeased with the lack of said lunch. The more active puppy whined, coming forward to nudge at your arm.

 

“Aww, are you worried?”

 

He whined again. Your stomach chose this inopportune time to loudly complain at the lack of sustenance again, leading the puppy to scuttle back in alarm. The other didn’t like this and started to growl in warning.

 

“It’s okay! I’m just hungry is all.” You explained with a grin, not really expecting them to understand. Clearly they didn’t, as they both only continued to stare back at you warily, particularly as you started searching your bag. “Now where…aha!” You cheered a bit as you pulled out the slice of pie Toriel had been kind enough to prepare for your trip.

 

*** Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie, one slice**

 

It was still warm, and smelled heavenly. You took a bite and felt some of your strength return. It was funny, because you wouldn’t have expected butterscotch and cinnamon to go together so well, but Toriel managed it wonderfully. You stayed there for a bit, simply enjoying the taste and reminding yourself to thank Toriel whenever you saw her next. And to get the recipe.

 

You were brought out of your musings by the nudging at your arm again, drawing your attention back to your current companions. They looked substantially less wary or nervous now that the strange sounds from your stomach had lessened, but they still seemed curious—oh. They’re dogs, right? They probably wanted to know what you were eating. Or why the monster in your stomach suddenly got quiet.

 

“Are you guys hungry, too?

 

Come to think of it, the puppies probably haven’t eaten anything either. As it was, they were eyeing your plate rather intently. Well, the smaller one was, at any rate. He almost looked ready to make a grab for it himself. The bigger one just seemed curious about the way you kept putting pieces of the pie into your mouth. You might need to be careful that he doesn’t try getting a closer look, as that would probably be a very unpleasant experience for you both.

 

“Here you go. Enjoy!”

 

You had eaten half the pie by this point and for a pie that had to be more magic and sugar than anything, you were starting to feel full—or at least sated enough that you didn’t mind handing off the rest of your meal. The two seemed rather pleased at any rate. Well, the happy one seemed pleased. The other—which you were starting to wonder about as he kept showing signs of a level of paranoia that didn’t seem normal in dogs—kept a wary eye on you and pushed the bigger one away from the plate as he sniffed it over carefully. After a minute, he didn’t seem to find anything (and the fact you had already eaten some of the pie as well probably didn’t hurt), so he let the less emotionally disturbed one have at the pie.

 

The two were clearly siblings, though, and just as protective of each other. While the smaller one kept watch for any threats or potential harm, the bigger one wasn’t oblivious either—particularly to his sibling’s behavior if his own little growl and nudging of the plate with a good portion of the pie left in the other’s direction was any indication. They were looking out for each other. And while the smaller one ate, the bigger one was just as focused on their surroundings—keeping an eye on the area, the woods around them, and an occasional glance at you as well, though you weren’t sure whether it was to make sure you weren’t a threat or that you were still there.

 

Altruism. Pack mentality, maybe? It was still pretty interesting to watch.

 

Once the pie was finished, they both seemed somewhat calmer, but certainly happier for the meal. Even the smaller one was more accepting of pets this time than he had been when you first attempted it. You grinned, feeling rather happy yourself.

 

**(Seeing the two puppies happy and fed fills you with determination.)**

 

And you were going to prove to your therapist that you weren’t still traumatized by dogs.

 

Oh, and that monsters were real. As was magic. And souls. Just as soon as you got out of here.

 

Speaking of which, it’d probably been at least an hour by now and not only was your butt sore from sitting on a rock, but also probably frozen, too, given all the snow. As was the rest of you, now that you took the time to actually note the chill. It was probably long past time to go.

 

_But the puppies…_

 

Would be fine. There were tons of dogs out here, apparently. 

 

You sighed to yourself, but knew it’d have to happen sooner or later. You stood to your feet and brushed off some of the remaining snow, much to the curiosity and amusement of your two watchers. You smiled at them both and patted each on the head, much to their delight. 

 

“Well, it looks like it’s time to press on. It was nice getting to meet you two. Safe travels.”

 

Glancing around, you regained your bearings and were able to remember which way you came from. Despite your poor sense of direction, you were able to determine which path to take to continue onward to Snowdin. The signpost complete with arrows pointing in the right direction probably helped with that. Now that you were reoriented to which way to head, you were ready to move onward. But you only managed to get a few steps away from the two puppies before you started to hear a whining sound from behind you.

 

Aww, the little guys liked you and didn't want you to leave. Without really thinking, you reached out a hand, possibly for a final pat.

 

You weren’t expecting the smaller hand that grasped onto yours.

 

“What—?!”

 

You immediately jerked your hand away and spun back to where you’d just left the two little skeleton puppies.

 

Only it’s two little skeletons staring up at you now.

 

Two HUMAN skeletons.

 

Two human skeletons that may very well have been the puppies if the way the taller one whined and the smaller one smiled and just…stared at you with glowing lights in his eyes were any indication.

 

So…that’s a thing, apparently.

 

You were still uncertain whether you’re more or less disturbed than when they were puppies. Because you couldn’t say you liked children anymore than you liked dogs. And skeleton dogs were still dogs unless they were children.

 

“Um…hi?”

 

They stared up at you, eyes wide.

 

“Nice…little…skeleton things?”

 

They continued to stare up at you, questioningly. But they didn’t speak. You knew they could at least make sounds, given their earlier growling, yips, whines, and assorted doggy noises as well was the more recent whining in this form, but you supposed that didn’t mean they could talk. Which would have been nice, since you’d certainly like an explanation for what was going on.

 

You waved. “Hi?”

 

The taller one shyly waved back. The small one did the same, but more lazily.

 

Well, they understood you, at least. Sort of, anyway.

 

“Um…”

 

Oh god, you had no idea what to do! What do you do with children? You could have left them when they were dogs, but that was when they were dogs and you could assume they could at least care for themselves like the other dogs you'd met so far, but what were you supposed to do with children? WERE they even children? There was no way to tell in this crazy place!

 

You smiled, uncertainly. “Well, this has been fun, but I kind of have to get to town. Guess I’ll be seeing you around.”

 

The tall one smiled back in response. Even the smaller one seemed a bit more positive. Maybe this was okay, then? Maybe they just wanted to change form to see you off officially or something?

 

Except as you took a couple steps, they did as well. Clearly they didn’t get it after all.

 

“So...I have to go now. Away. To a different place. Yeah.” You said, enunciating clearly while in no way elaborating, all while holding up an increasingly strained smile as you started backing away slowly.

 

To your irritation, every step you took put no real distance between you as the skeleton children just seemed to follow you.

 

Obviously, this was getting nowhere. It seemed the two children—because that IS what they are, CHILDREN didn’t understand what was going on. If they were really at young, there would have to be someone, an adult or guardian of some sort looking after them. As it stood, it may not be the safest of choices to simply leave them on their own. What if they had gotten lost and their guardian was looking for them now? You should find them, right? That’d be the best place to start.

 

“Um…do you two have a caretaker?” You asked.

 

They both simply looked up at you in confusion. They glanced at each other once before turning back to you. Both pointed at you.

 

“What? No no. I mean…someone who takes care of you.”

 

The two looked uncertain. The taller one again pointed at you.

 

“Well where did you come from?” You tried again.

 

This time at least, neither pointed at you, but they did point in completely different directions and you had the sinking suspicion neither was probably correct.

 

You sighed.

 

This was going nowhere fast. What were you supposed to do now? There was no one around to explain anything and you were completely lost by this point.

 

“All right. Maybe if I take you both to town, someone will recognize you and be able to get you home?” You asked. Well, you were really only talking to yourself at this point as the two clearly didn’t seem to understand what you were talking about.

 

What they did understand was when you held your hands out to each of them in invitation. The tall one gasped while the eye sockets—and god, wasn’t that weird?—of the smaller one widened in surprise. Slowly, uncertainly, they both reached out and each took one of your hands. You squeezed them both in response and smiled as they stared at you in disbelief.

 

Honestly, it was like no one ever held their hands before.

 

“Come on then, let’s go, okay?”

 

They didn’t move, but continued to stare up at you. If anything, their eyes seem to get bigger. In awe or perhaps…admiration?

 

Well, at least they didn’t look angry or like they were about to attack you, but apparently they were getting a little more attached than you would have wanted if their expressions were any indication. You realized this a little too late and immediately tried to backtrack.

 

**[ ACT ]**

 

[ Pet ]           [ Hug ]

[ Fetch ]        **[ Command ]**

 

“No. Whatever you’re thinking: NO.”

 

It wasn’t effective.

 

At all.

 

The next thing you knew, the taller one was hugging you around your middle while the smaller one was suddenly sitting on your shoulders slumped over your head. No, you didn’t know how he got up there. But he seemed to find it rather comfy given how quickly he felt asleep in that position. Slumped on top of your head. And regardless of your determination not to be a pseudo-caretaker figure to these weird little lost souls for any period of time, you couldn’t bring yourself to push him off. Or shove the one clinging to you away.

 

That’s when it hit you.

 

You have been adopted.

 

“Chara, no!”

 

Chara, _yes!_

 

* * *

 

 

Once you realized the weight of the situation you were in, you immediately backtracked to the Ruins and started banging on the door to hopefully receive assistance from the one person who could best support you in your sudden predicament.

 

**BANG! BANG!**

 

“Toriel, please open up!”

 

**BANG!**

 

“I know you said not to come back, but I somehow ended up with two skeleton dogs that turned into kids and now they won’t let go of me and one is sleeping on my head and I don’t know what to do with them and—”

 

You heard a muffled sound on the other side of the door.

 

“T-Tori—” You sighed. “Toriel, please stop laughing. This is serious!”

 

The sound was no longer being muffled and you could now hear boisterous laughter on the other side of the door.

 

There was no support to be found.

**Author's Note:**

> The weird result of an idea that 7th child Frisk is an adult who falls into the Underground and happens upon younger GasterBlaster versions of Sans and Papyrus after they escape from the labs and horrible experiments. The two strangely decide they rather like Frisk and want to stay with this person. Frisk is not happy with this idea, but the two are rather clingy and determined. In addition, Chara’s ghost is bound to Frisk while serving as the narration for what happens and is in no way helping matters. At all.
> 
> I'll be honest, I typed up most of this while lacking any sleep and posted it in the early hours of the morning. I'm probably going to fix it after I wake up, assuming I don't delete it entirely in sheer horror once I return to my senses and see what I have created.


End file.
